V. I. Lenin

Notes of a Publicist

The “Unity Crisis” in our Party

Onreading this title, some readers perhaps will hardly
believe their eyes. “Well, that’s the limit! What a lot of crises we have
had in our own Party, and now all of a sudden a new crisis, aunitycrisis!”

Theexpression which sounds so queer I have borrowed from
Liebknecht. He used it in 1875 in a letter (dated April 21) to Engels,
giving an account of the union of the Lassalleans and the Eisenachers. Marx
and Engels thought at that time that no good would come of this

union.{1}Liebknecht brushed aside their fears and asserted that the
German Social-Democratic Party, which had successfully survived all sorts
of crises,, would also survive the “unity crisis” (see Gustav Mayer,Johann Baptist von Schweitzer und die Sozialdemokratie, Jena,
1909, S. 424).

Therecan be no doubt whatever that our Party too, the Russian
Social-Democratic Labour Party, will successfully surviveitsunity crisis. That it is now passing through such a crisis is obvious to
everyone who is acquainted with the decisions of the plenary meeting of the
Central Committee and with the events that followed. If one were to judge
by the resolutions of the plenum, the union might seem to be most complete
and fully accomplished. But if one were to judge by what is taking place
now in the beginning of May 1910, if one were to judge by the determined
struggle of the Central Organ againstGolos Sotsial-Demokrata,
which is published by the liquidators, by the controversy that has flared
up between Plekhanov and the other pro-Party Mensheviks, on the one hand,
and the Golosists on the other, or by the extremely abusive attacks of the
“Vperyod” group on the Central Organ (see the recent leaflet of
the group, entitled “To the Bolshevik Comrades”), thenallunity
might easily appear to an outsider to be a mere phantom.

Theavowed enemies of the Party are rejoicing. The Vperyodists, the
adherents and screeners of otzovism, are indulging in unbridled
abuse. Still more bitter is the abuse levelled by the leaders of the
liquidators, Axelrod, Martynov, Martov, Potresov and others, in their
“Necessary Supplement to Plekhanov’sDnevnik”. The
“conciliators” areat a loss, complaining and uttering helpless phrases (see the resolution
passed on April 17, 1910, by the Vienna Social-Democratic Party Club, which
shares Trotsky’s viewpoint).

Butthe most important and fundamental question as to thereasonswhy our Party union is developing in this and in no other
way, why the (seemingly) complete unity at the plenum is now replaced by
(seemingly) complete disunity, ,and also the question of what the trend of
the further development of the Partyshouldbe in view of the
“relationship of forces” inside and outside our Party—these fundamental
questions are not answered either by the liquidators (Golosgroup)
or by the otzovists (Vperyodgroup) or the conciliators (Trotsky
and the “Viennese”).

Abuseand phrase-mongering are no answer.

{1}See Marx and Engels,Selected Correspondence, Moscow, 1955,
pp. 352–61.